Before he teed off on Thursday, Bubba Watson played games on his phone and playfully bugged his good buddy Rickie Fowler. A few hours later, he was dead serious – and in a tie for the first-round lead. Bubba is seen here wearing the TM polo style Stitch in black.
KOHLER, Wis. (AP) — While other players waited out the fog delay on the driving range or putting green, Bubba Watson played games on his phone and threw things at Rickie Fowler while his good friend was trying to sleep.
There are, Watson knows all too well, more important things to get worked up about than a round of golf.
Even at a major championship.
The fun-loving Watson earned a share of the early lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday, shooting a 4-under 68. Afterward, he choked up talking about the difficult year his family has endured, with his father battling cancer and his wife having a scare of her own.
“It’s kind of emotional now,” Watson said, stopping several times to compose himself. “The first doctor told us the wrong diagnosis, but we didn’t know that at the time, so it was scary. Why do I want to go hit a golf ball around? So that’s where the emotions come from.”
It wasn’t all that long ago that Watson had a different outlook on life. A fan favorite for his booming tee shots and pink-shafted driver (his favorite colors are pink and lime green), he missed five straight cuts last summer, starting at the British Open. Usually good-natured, he found himself getting angry every time he stepped on the course.
Finally, his longtime caddie — and good friend — Ted Scott pulled him aside. Watson needed to take time off, quit, anything to change his attitude.
If not, Scott said, Watson could find a new caddie.
“There’s nothing outside the ropes that bothers me. But inside the ropes, I was letting everything bother me,” Watson said. “When he sat there as a good friend of mine and told me that he was going to quit because of my attitude, you’ve got to change it.”
Instead of getting worked up about his game, Watson is having fun with it.
The week he won in Hartford, Conn., he and wife Angie passed a billboard advertising a water park and talked about how much fun it would be to go there. But what professional athlete blows off practice to play at a water park?
Watson did. A few days later, he’d won his first tournament.
“The win just showed me that we’re onto something, the right thing. Let’s have fun with our lives and let’s have fun with golf,” Watson said. “That whole week, I just never thought about winning.”
Now Watson puts as big a premium on fun as he does on his game. Since arriving at Whistling Straits on Sunday night, Watson and Fowler have been tossing the football around, playing basketball. They even rode scooters with some of the kids in the neighborhood where Watson is staying.
Of course, if any player could use some off-the-course levity these days, it’s Watson. His father is battling cancer and when Watson and his wife were visiting him at Christmas, Angie Watson checked herself into a hospital with a severe headache.
“She’s a professional athlete who had surgery on knees, shoulder, everywhere possible,” Watson said of his wife, a former WNBA player. “So when she wants to go to the hospital, I know something’s wrong.”
She wound up only being dehydrated. But doctors told the Watsons that, during the course of their tests, they’d found a tumor in Angie Watson’s pituitary gland.
“Two months went by and we did some more tests — man, this is hard,” Watson said, stopping to compose himself.
Finally, doctors at Duke University told them Angie Watson did not have cancer. Like many taller women, her pituitary gland was enlarged.
When Watson won in Hartford, the emotions of everything he’s gone through this last year spilled over.
“I do this because I love it,” Watson said. “When I’ve been angry, my wife has yelled at me a few times and said, `Why are you angry? This is what you love to do. When you’re home, when you’re not playing golf, you’re playing golf with all the boys back home. So you love to do this. So why not just go have fun and do it.’”
Check out this video interview from the Golf Channels’s ‘Inside the PGA Tour’ featuring TM Player Bubba Watson (wearing TM throughout). The video is a behind-the-scenes look at his game, his life in North Carolina, his charity work and his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. You can noticeably see him wearing various TM apparel throughout. Great interview… Way to go Bubba!
TM Ambassador Peter Tomasulo is featured in the Caifornia GOLF Magazine article wearing TM Polos Thrasher, B-Rip and Stitch, TM pant Chucks in Grey and Basic Instinct pant in white, and the ever popular TM ICON belt. Looking good Petey!
You don’t get many second chances in life, and that especially holds true for professional golf. However, for Long Beach native and Cal Bear alumnus Peter Tomasulo that may not be the case. After all, he’s about to get another shot at the PGA Tour.
Now back on the Nationwide Tour, Tomasulo is currently eighth on their 2010 money list and certainly on his way back to the PGA Tour.
Peter is featured here wearing TM Polo style Stitch, TM Basic Instinct Pant, and the TM ICON GOLD belt.
Peter Tomasulo found himself miffed earlier this season because of poor play that hurt his status to play whenever he wanted on the Nationwide Tour.
He spent 2009 on the PGA TOUR, but struggled there. Earlier this season, he was at a crossroads. It was something he didn’t like, so he plowed ahead, continued to work hard and the results soon followed.
“To be honest I didn’t have very good status and I had some sponsor’s exemptions that got me in a couple of tournaments, but I was kind of frustrated with how it was going,” he said about starting the season in the category of a past champion. “But during the reshuffle I just decided to start playing golf and not worry about everything else.”
That turned the tide for Tomasulo, a 28-year-old veteran of the Nationwide Tour who missed four of his first six cuts of the season.
Since missing the cut at the Rex Hospital Open in late May, Tomasulo has turned it on. It all came together for him in Canada earlier this month with a victory at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic when he won for the first time since 2005. All he did was fire a 61 on the last day for the victory.
That was his first victory since winning the Alberta Classic, which was also in Canada, in 2005.
The victory at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic helped him gain a foothold on the season and boosted his confidence level.
“More than the money and the jump up the list, it was nice to be in contention again and to perform like that under pressure was a big thing for me,” said Tomasulo. “I was in contention in Mexico earlier but then when I got into contention again in Canada — I took advantage of it.”
The Nationwide Tour moves this week Omaha, Nebraska for the Cox Classic Presented by Lexus of Omaha, and Tomasulo comes in with nearly $200,000 this season, good enough for eighth place on the money list. He is in good shape to stay in the ‘THE 25′ by the end of the season and get a spot on the PGA TOUR for 2011.
“For me, when I play comfortable and relaxed, the results are so much better,” Tomasulo said. “I want to try and get it going so I’m working on staying more relaxed.”
The relaxed approach is working.
He has a tie for 14th, a victory, a tie for fifth and a tie for 17th last week at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in his last four tournaments.
Tomasulo, a 2004 graduate from the University of California, said he learned plenty from his experience on the PGA TOUR last season. He finished a distant 199th on the FedEx Cup points race and made just $128,706 as he made just five cuts in 25 tournaments. He wound up with just one top 25 all season.One of the differences for Tomasulo compared to last year’s play on the PGA TOUR is his ability to bounce back. Last weekend he shot a disappointing 74 on Saturday, but came back strong with a 66 in the final round to vault up the leaderboard.
“It’s just about being patient,” Tomasulo said about what he learned last year. “I was really down about last season toward the end and was about as down as I could be. But now I have a new feeling because at the end of last season I was down on myself and my game …. I don’t want to have that feeling ever again.”
It’s difficult for Tomasulo to talk much about last season’s learning experience on the PGA TOUR, and instead would rather look ahead.
“I’m better right now than I ever have been in my whole career,” Tomasulo said. “I feel like every time I tee it up I can contend and it’s never been like that for me.”
Tomasulo lists one of his biggest thrills in golf as helping the University of California to the NCAA championship in his senior season in 2004. Like a lot of young pros just out of college he thought it would be different.
“I thought everything would maybe happen for me a little sooner,” Tomasulo said. “I had some struggles and for some reason it took a little longer than I had planned. Then I struggled out on the PGA TOUR last year, but I learned a lot.”
It wasn’t that long ago when Tomasulo was dreading what was ahead, but now he can’t wait to get to the next tournament.
“I feel like I’m in great position now after starting the year with terrible status,” Tomasulo said. “Now, I just want to play in as many events and play as well as I can for the rest of the year. I was really stressed out last season when I didn’t get off to a great start and it kind of snowballed.
“I’m finding that I’m a little easier on myself.”
Peter, wearing TM polo style B-Rip and TM ICON belt in white, hits a shot during the first round of the Classic.
Congratulations to Peter Tomasulo and Chris Kirk who placed among the top finishers in the inaugural Nationwide Tour Chiquita Classic at TCP River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio on Sunday, July 18. Congratulations to both of our Travis Mathew Team Players. Here are some pictures of them on the greens wearing Travis Mathew … all available at travismathew.com!
Peter, wearing TM polo style Club Polo, TM pant style Nooner, and TM ICON belt in white, hits a shot from a bunker on the 14th green.
Peter reacts to a shot during the second round. He's seen here wearing TM polo style Thrasher, TM pant Blackjack and TM ICON belt in black.
Chris Kirk hits his second shot on the ninth hole during the third round. Chris is seen here wearing TM polo style Pixel in white, TM pant Lowdown and TM ICON belt in white.
Chris contemplates his next shot during the first round. Chris is seen here wearing TM polo style B-Duble, TM pant Lodown and TM ICON belt in white.
Watch this video excerpt of Jamie Sadlowski, the Travis Mathew sponsored Long Drive Hitter, demonstrating his long drive tip on the popular Golf Channel show ‘The Big Break Sandals Resort’. Sadlowski offers up a tip to improve performance in your drive. You’ll see him wearing TM polo style B-Staple, and TM ICON belt in white. Looking sharp Jamie!
Check out this video of highlights from Peter Tomasulo’s win at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic on Sunday. You’ll also notice that Peter, a Travis Mathew supporter, is wearing the TM polo style Tilt in this video. Congratulations Peter on your win!
Jul. 11, 2010
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada – Peter Tomasulo fired a 10-under-par 61 Sunday to come from eight shots behind and win the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic by one. The 28-year old Californian rallied on the final day, racing by the leaders to finish with a 24-under par total at the Georgian Bay Club, a shot ahead of Vermont rookie Keegan Bradley.
Bradley birdied the final hole for a 6-under 65 and solo second. Kevin Chappell, who had a five-stroke lead after three days, managed only an even-par 70 to wind up at 22-under and in third place.
“To be honest, I thought he (Chappell) was uncatchable because of the way he played the first three rounds,” said Tomasulo, who won for the second time in his career, both coming in Canada. “I thought we might be able to get something going and think about second place. I wasn’t expecting to shoot 10-under.”
Bradley, who started the day in second and five back of Chappell told the media Saturday that somebody could shoot 61 on Sunday, considering he’d done it on Friday and Chappell had done it in Thursday’s opener.
“I felt like I played great all week and I was close to a really good round,” said Tomasulo, who also shot a second-round 61 in his first win, the 2005 Alberta Classic. “I just tried to stay patient. All of a sudden I started making putts and hitting it close today. I just got on a roll early and kept it going.”
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP)
Bubba Watson really wanted to play well at the Travelers Championship to impress U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.
He did.
Watson overcame a six-stroke deficit Sunday to force a playoff with Pavin and Scott Verplank, then beat Verplank with a par on the second playoff hole.
Watson, the long-hitting left-hander from the Florida Panhandle, closed with a 4-under 66 to match Verplank (64) and Pavin (66) at 14 under. Pavin dropped out on the first extra hole.
After making a 3-footer on the par-3 16th to win, Watson hugged wife Angie and began crying. He said he was so nervous, he could not feel his arms on the final putt.
“I’m a very emotional guy,” he said. “I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sunday, I cry at church. I couldn’t get the ‘Yes’ out of ‘I do’ at my wedding. The pastor said, ‘You got to say it. You can’t just nod. You can’t nod.’
“Everybody has issues. My family had some issues. My dad is battling cancer. My wife last year thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now, we’re battling with my dad. It’s emotional.”
It was largest comeback on the tour since Padraig Harrington also came from six back to win the 2007 British Open.
(Read more at http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2000027,00.html)
Jun. 27, 2010
MORE TRANSCRIPTS: Travelers Championship transcript archive
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’d like to welcome the winner of the 2010 Travelers Championship, Bubba Watson. I know that’s gotta sound good. It was quite a week. I’m sure starting off today you didn’t imagine that you would be sitting in this chair right here. But you did. Went a little bit of extra holes. You got the job done. You picked up five FedExCup points moving you to eighth in the ranking. So just some comments on the day overall and then we’ll take a few questions.
BUBBA WATSON: You know, at the beginning of the day I was six back, shooting 4-under. I think I shot 4-under. I shot 4-under. There’s no way that wins. You know, to be realistic, we don’t think that’s going to have a chance to win. If somebody would have told me that at the beginning of the day if I shot 4-under, I would’ve thought I would come in Top 5 or something.
For me getting in the playoff after shooting 4-under was just unreal and then to actually somehow make that par putt to win was unreal.
But today was a good day. I wasn’t nervous the front nine or the Back 9 till the last few holes because I thought that a few under wasn’t going to have a chance to win, but somehow I scraped it around, and 4-under did have a chance to win and ended up winning.
For us three guys to be in the playoff, I mean we weren’t one or two starting the day, so for us three guys to be in the playoffs was weird. There was no way to expect that. There was no way you could write it like that.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’ll go ahead and open it up for some questions.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about 17 and what happened there and how you were able to recover?
BUBBA WATSON: You know, it’s a bunker shot. We joked about it walking down 18 after I did it is that they tell you in a bunker, everybody tells you in a bunker you gotta hit ball first. Don’t hit sand first. I hit the top of the ball, hit ball first, but it didn’t work out.
You know, it’s just one of those things, you know. I guess you can’t say I choked because I came back and birdied the next hole and now I’m the champion. But you know, I was nervous. I tried to hit a pitching wedge 157 out of a fairway bunker over water to win a golf tournament. And I didn’t do it. I hit it about 73 yards or something, came up short. But.
You know what, what I was thinking was let’s drop the ball, let’s make a bogey, we could still birdie and win. Then it came up short.
I didn’t get mad. One thing I didn’t do, I didn’t get mad at that time. I just remember thinking to myself, and my caddie said, too, we chip this in, we make bogey. It was a terrible lie with chip and came out, went to about a foot and I was like double. Now we’re 13, we’re one back. Let’s birdie the last.
So you know what, I never once put my shoulders down and pouted after that shot, but somehow I just kept going.
Q. Talk about the drive there. I think that went 396.
BUBBA WATSON: Boy, that cart path helped out a lot. You know, I hit it really well. It was more downwind in the playoff. Matt Jones, he hit it past the cart path. We saw it going past the cart path from the tee. Then I hit a good one. We thought it was going to be a short iron, 100 yards or so just give or take, and then Matt saw it hit the cart path. I didn’t even look. I picked my tee up and started walking, just put my head down trying to grind out another birdie, and Matt said it hit the cart path and bounced straight up in the air. So we knew it had to be pretty far down there. So I was just inside 50 yards, and I was like, my best chance for birdie on this hole is right now. Somehow I walked away with a birdie.
Q. Bubba, talk about how nervous you were when you thought you had a chance to win.
BUBBA WATSON: I was nervous.
Q. Compare that to this.
BUBBA WATSON: I was just as nervous. It was a bunker shot on 17. If I make par there and then hit that drive, I can walk away without having to play extra holes.
You get nervous. You want to do something so good, you want to win, you got — people have different reasons why they want to win. You know, I wanted to impress Corey Pavin so I could make the Ryder Cup, but that’s a whole different story. Corey, if you’re listening –
But you know, I was nervous, just like Bob Hope, you know; Tampa I was nervous. I shot, what, 4-under at Tampa, came in third, just gotta play a little bit better. But I played good on Sunday on a tough golf course. So the nerves are there. It just happened — even with my mistakes I stayed there and my caddie kept chirping in my ear, you’re still in this, you’re still in this. So my nerves were there. Just like I said earlier, that putt that I made for par to win, I don’t remember taking that putter back. I just remember that one arm went one way and the other arm went the other way and somehow it went straight in the hole.
Q. You called your shot in the playoff the shot of a lifetime. If so, how hard was it to regroup if it’s not a win?
BUBBA WATSON: First of all, my caddie, and me — you hear a lot of people talk about it, you always gotta expect the unexpected.
So when I was over there, I was already thinking what we’re going to do on 16 while he was putting. I was thinking about what club we’re going to hit, which way the wind is going, the pin’s tucked.
I was just thinking everything on the next hole because I knew I was going to make my putt, hopefully. I was an inch away. All I thought about was what we’re going to do on the next hole. I never thought about if he misses, I win right here. I just thought about what I was going to do on the next hole. So I didn’t really think about what he did.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about your emotions? It was very visible out there after you made that putt on 16.
BUBBA WATSON: I’m a very emotional guy. I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sundays, I’m crying at church. I couldn’t get the “yes” or the “I do” out on my wedding day. And the pastor said, you gotta say it. You can’t just nod.
So you know, and just all the — everybody has issues, but you know, our family had some issues, and my dad’s battling cancer; and my wife, we had a scare, we thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now we’re battling with my dad. So it’s emotional.
You know, my dad taught me everything I know. It’s not very much, but that’s all I know. He would agree with that.
You know, I’ve never had a lesson. My dad, he took me to the golf course when I was six years old and just told me he was going to be in the woods looking for his ball, so he just told me to take this 9-iron and beat it down the fairway. And now look at me after beating a 9-iron on the fairway coming from Bagdad, Florida, I never dreamed this.
Q. When you finished second at the events you have, did you ever have any doubts that you would one day be sitting in the trophy room or did you really believe it would happen?
BUBBA WATSON: Truthfully, I never doubt myself. I think I have the ability, maybe just not a strong enough mind, to keep me going, because I’m emotional.
But you know, like I say all the time, I’m not worried about winning. I’m a Christian first, you know, and golf just happens to be how I can support my family. The game’s given me a lot, lets me support my mom and dad, lets me support the junior tournaments that I put on that I have next week I gotta go down to and do another speech.
But you know, it’s something I get to do for a living, but I don’t ever question why I don’t win. I don’t ever question — I don’t ever envy anybody else.
You know, I did a couple years ago, and it was wrong for me to do that, and you know, I just lucked up and won today. You know, I was just blessed that I won today. So no, I don’t ever think I deserve a win. You never deserve anything. If it’s in the will, it’s in the will.
Q. You mentioned a couple years ago you might have envied somebody. Is there something that changed your outlook or something you can point to?
BUBBA WATSON: Just being a better Christian. You know, going the wrong path. When you want to live your life one way and not doing what — you say one thing, but you don’t do it.
And thinking that — thinking that I was good enough to win. And if it’s not in the books, it’s not in the books. You know, I could go in second place for the rest of my life and never win, but that’s not a reason for me to pout. Sometimes the media puts pressure on you — I don’t know if y’all know that.
But you know, that’s the way I — and that’s my problem. When I first got out here, my problem was why can’t I win, why can’t I do this. My caddie stayed with me for four years even though I kept being mad and pissy on the golf course.
Q. You gave us some shots to remember out there today obviously, but I’m just kind of curious, he’s already missed his putt and he’s bogeyed, how long does three feet look at that point?
BUBBA WATSON: I couldn’t take a breath. The reason — we’ve already figured out what we’re going to do. We’re going to hit it dead straight up the hill, doesn’t break. And then he missed it, and I was like, now what do I do? Are we still at the break? What do I do? My head’s just going a thousand miles an hour.
When I bent down to get behind it to act like I was lining it up, I was trying to breathe. And the sad thing is is my trainer, Fish, Andrew Fisher, who travels with me everywhere I go, when we’re working out, he says, you gotta breathe. You have to breathe. Breathing is part of it. This is going to help you in golf. You’re going to be stronger, you’re going to be this. And all I could think about was, man, how does he tell me to breathe? How am I supposed to be breathing right now? And my heart was pounding.
And again, all I remember is I’m supposed to rock this way and rock that way and the putt hopefully goes in. And it went in. That’s the dead-honest truth. I couldn’t feel my arms, I was so nervous.
Q. Did it surprise you the different players in this playoff, the big hitters, different forms, styles, big hitter yourself?
BUBBA WATSON: You know what, it’s funny that starting the day there’s no way you thought us three — a guy who teed off an hour before me, us three being in the playoffs, you know.
But if you look at Corey, me and Corey are just alike, except he’s won 15 times and he’s Ryder Cup captain. But we’re just alike. He shapes the ball more than anybody, and I shape the ball more than anybody, just I’m younger, so I hit it a little bit farther than he does. That’s it. Love you, Corey.
No, it’s just — and Verplank is more just a steady, putts it really well, gonna get up-and-down, just going to be steady, right down the middle, just going to hit the greens, gonna hit the fairways. And Corey likes to shape the ball. That’s how I like to do it. We just do it at different club head speeds, I guess.
So yeah, it was three different players, but all great players and then me.
Q. Have you heard from your cohorts from home yet?
BUBBA WATSON: I’m not allowed to look at my phone right now since we’re in a meeting, or not a meeting, official business right now.
My phone has been going off right now as we speak, and I want to check it so bad, but I can’t.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
BUBBA WATSON: If I had to say, I’d say yes.
DOUG MILNE: Last thing.
BUBBA WATSON: People I don’t even know are calling me right now. IRS. (Laughs).
DOUG MILNE: If you would just run us through your birdies real quick and give us some clubs and yards.
BUBBA WATSON: Which hole are we at? First hole of the day?
DOUG MILNE: Yeah.
BUBBA WATSON: I birdied 3. I hit driver. I hit lob wedge, we had 99 yards, I think, 99 yards and I hit it to about a foot, made that putt.
I birdied 6 — oh, 6, a slice driver, had to chip out of the tall hay, so I had 208 hole. Hit 7-iron to eight feet and made the putt.
And then 11, I made a bogey. I was so mad about that hole. I hit 52-degree, pin high, about 40 feet, 30 feet, three-putted, hit a good putt, missed it, like a 5-footer.
I birdied 12 and 13 every day of the tournament. So 12, I was kind of keeping it on top of the hill, so I hit this big slice, started at the houses and sliced it back to the center of the fairway. Had a pitching wedge in there from 131 playing 128 or something. So I hit a little pitching wedge in there to about 10 feet and made it up the hill.
13, I hit driver, aimed it over the water, sliced it back to the bunkers. It’s kind of weird, but that’s what I do. Then I hit 4-iron out of the first cut there, just to the back bunker, hit the good bunker shot, and it lipped out to about a foot, made it for birdie.
What’s 15? 15, the short hole. I hit 4-wood just off the side of the green. Me and my caddie call it my famous chip shot. So I hit this little bump-and-run with a 63-degree into the hill to about eight feet and made it. Then hit 9-iron on the par-3 to about 12 feet past, made that one, a little breaker there.
Then my famous 17, I hit 3-iron off the tee into the bunker, hit a top of the wedge into the water, dropped it, hit lob wedge and spun it off the green, chipped the lob wedge about a foot, made it for six.
Then 18, my favorite cart path, I hit it down there about 50 yards short of the hole, chipped it to about six feet, seven feet and then made it force a playoff.
Q. What did you hit in the playoff?
BUBBA WATSON: Driver, and then I had 125, and I hit 56-degree about an inch.
16, we changed everything we was going to do after he hit his shot, pulled it a little bit. But I hit 9-iron. I just chipped the 9-iron. Trying to hit it in the fat of the green and hopefully par wins it.
Q. Are you playing the CVS?
BUBBA WATSON: Yes. I’m there tonight sometime.
Q. Who are you paired with?
BUBBA WATSON: My partner? Camilo Villegas, because we’re defending champions. We won two years ago, and then the U.S. Open rained out, so we had to finish on Monday. So there’s two defending champions this year.
DOUG MILNE: All right. Bubba, congratulations.
BUBBA WATSON: Thank you very much. Thanks, guys.
Chris Kirk in Sunday’s final round of the Fort Smith Classic, wearing Travis Mathew Polo “Pixel” in white and TM ICON belt.
Jun. 20, 2010
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR staff
FORT SMITH, Ark — Georgia’s Chris Kirk fired a 6-under 64 on Sunday to come from behind and win the Fort Smith Classic by one stroke over Kyle Thompson, who charged up the board with a 7-under 63.
Kirk finished at 16-under 264 and earned his first career title. He collected $94,500 in the process, pushing him from No. 4 to No. 1 on the money list with $262,382, which should be more than enough to guarantee him a place among THE 25 leading money winners who will move onto the PGA TOUR next year.
“It’s been a lot of years since I won a golf tournament. I had forgotten how good it feels,” said the 25-year old who won seven times during his days with the Bulldogs. “This takes care of a lot of goals in one round. My first win on Tour and then to be able to secure my PGA TOUR card for next year and go to number one on the money list at the same time feels incredible.”
Thompson, a Tour member who needed to Monday qualify just to get into the field, rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to finish at 15-under and in solo second. Garrett Osborn (64), Michael Putnam (66), Zack Miller (67) and Josh Broadaway (69) wound up at 12-under and tied for third.
Fan-favorite John Daly carded a 1-under 69 and tied for 22nd in his first Nationwide Tour start since 1991.
The final round at Hardscrabble Country Club began with 21 players bunched within four strokes of Broadaway, the 54-hole leader who plays cross-handed from the right side.
Kirk played in the final pairing with Broadaway and quickly moved to the lead with birdies on his first two holes, getting to 12-under par. He added two more at number five and six to reach 14-under.
“There were some good scores on the front nine. You can make some hay on those first seven holes,” said Kirk. “There are a lot of tough holes after that and not quite as many birdie opportunities.”
Osborn was the first to make some noise, turning the front in 5-under to get to 11-under overall and a temporary share of the lead.
Putnam reached 13-under with a birdie-eagle start on the back, but his efforts stalled when he played the final seven holes in 1-over par.
Broadaway never really got on track but got within shouting distance thanks to birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 to reach 13-under, but he too had trouble on the final stretch of holes.
Kirk bogeyed No. 8 and then chipped out from the trees on No. 9 and saved par with an up-and-down from 60 yards. He added a birdie on the par-5 11th to get back to 14-under.
“After I made birdie there, I thought somebody was going to have play really well,” said Kirk. “I thought if I could get to 16-under somebody would have trouble catching me. That was the number in my head.”
Birdies at No. 13 and 15 put him right where he wanted to be. The latter one coming within seconds of Thompson rolling in his birdie putt on the par-4 18th to post a score of 15-under.
That put the pressure back on Kirk, who lost a playoff at the Moonah Classic in Australia after blowing a two-shot lead with three holes to go in regulation.
“Anyone who says that doubt doesn’t creep into their heads, well they’re lying,” said Kirk, who parred the final three holes. “I’ve just taken the approach that negative thoughts are very natural. Let them come and go and then let’s get back to being positive. I learned a lot from that playoff. It’s a huge sense of relief to be able to finish strong today.”
Fourth-Round Notes:
• Tommy Gainey fired a 7-under 63 today and moved up to finish T16. The 63 is Gainey’s career-low score in 76 total starts (36 Nationwide Tour/40 PGA TOUR). Gainey did post an 8-under 64 in the final round of the 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic and wound up finishing second in the event. Gainey, winner of the Melwood Prince George’s County Open two weeks ago, earned enough money to leapfrog former leading money winner Kevin Chappell (did not play) and remain at No. 2 on the money list with $199,253.
• David Mathis fired a final-round 63 to move into a T7 finish. This is Mathis’ third consecutive top-10 effort. In his previous two starts he finished T9 at The Rex Hospital Open and T10 at the Melwood Prince George’s County Open. This is the second time in his career that he has posted three straight top-10s — 2008 South Georgia Classic (T6), BMW Charity Pro-Am (win), Melwood Prince George’s County Open (T2).
• Osborn shot a 6-under 64 to move up on Sunday afternoon. Osborn had made only one cut in eight previous starts this year, with a T34 at the Stadion Athens Classic at UGA his only payday. He finished at 12-under 268 (T3) and earned $25,200, moving him from No. 164 to No. 72 on the money list. Osborn’s T3 finish this week matches his career best — a T3 at the 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.
• Camilo Benedetti collected his first top-10 finish of the season and the fourth of his career with a T7 this week. This was Benedetti’s 70th career start on the Nationwide Tour. His last top-10 was a T8 at the 2009 Price Cutter Charity Championship. His career-best is a T5 at the 2007 Movistar Panama Championship.
• Daly, playing on a sponsor’s exemption and making his first start on this Tour since 1991, shot a final-round 69 to wind up at 8-under 272. Daly posted sub-par scores each day (66-68-69-69) but wound up T22. Daly hit 26 of 52 fairways this week, 47 of 72 greens in regulation and had 110 putts.
• Rookie Ty Harris finished at 11-under par and T7 this week, his first top-10 finish in 13 starts. Harris’ previous best this year was a T20 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
• Chris Parra, a Monday qualifier like Thompson, finished at 11-under and T7.
• Thompson jumped from No. 150 to No. 35 on the money list with his second-place check of $56,700. He had made $4,480 in seven previous starts this year.
• The Nationwide Tour heads south for next week’s Mexico Open in Leon. The tournament will be played at the El Bosque Country Club June 24-27.
1. You Probably Need More Loft
My wife, Angie, is a good athlete who played pro basketball with the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting. When she started playing golf seriously, six years ago, she used a driver with 9 degrees of loft and could carry the ball about 170 yards. Just before she played in the Bob Hope Classic pro-am earlier this year (a fifth-anniversary gift from me), she switched to a driver with 13 degrees. She instantly increased her carry distance to 215 yards with the same amount of roll she had before. Angie isn’t much different from most male amateurs in that the quickest shortcut to more distance is getting a driver with more loft. And don’t stop there; get a light, properly fitted shaft, too. You should use every bit of technology available before taking the leap of overhauling your swing. A custom-fit driver can easily give you 20 yards overnight; changing your swing can take months, or longer.
2. Utilize Your Best Physical Trait
Long hitters are long for different reasons. J.B. Holmes has a thick, strong, corn-fed kind of build. He’s very powerful from the elbows down, with strong, fast hands. Dustin Johnson is sort of skinny, with tremendous speed in his hips and torso. Me, I’m tall with a wide arc and long swing. People have different physical assets. It might be strong thighs, broad shoulders, a strong core, whatever. Find your strong point physically, and take advantage of it. And be careful that an instructor doesn’t try to build your swing around a part of you that isn’t your strongest point.
3. Try A Shorter Shaft
Twice I’ve been offered a spot in the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship, and both times I turned it down. It was nice to be invited, but I thought altering my swing specifically to get more distance for that one event might wreck my game. But I did toy with the idea, and even had Ping build me a driver with 5.5 degrees of loft and an extra-long, 48-inch shaft. The longer shaft, which many people assume is an automatic trick to generating more clubhead speed, didn’t work at all. It threw my timing off, and I didn’t hit the ball much farther even when I nailed it. I did much better with my standard 44½-inch driver, simply swinging a little harder.
Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than what’s in their driver. (The average, off-the-rack driver shaft today is 45½ inches.) Tiger Woods at his longest used a relatively short 43½-inch driver, with a steel shaft to boot. You’ll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go after tee shots without losing much control.
4. Learn To Hit A Draw
learn to draw the ball If you slice, you’re not paying as high a price as players used to with the older equipment. That’s because modern drivers don’t spin the ball as much, and the ball doesn’t spin as much, either. But the lesser penalty for a slice has lulled a lot of amateurs to sleep. The best way to really boom the ball out there is to swing from the inside and turn it over. You’ll compress the ball more, and the shot will bore through the wind better. And if you find the right driver, you’ll carry the ball farther with a draw than you would with a fade — another result of modern equipment.
5. Accept Days When You Don’t Have It
I started the last day of Bay Hill in 2008 in a five-way tie for the lead. For the first 10 holes, I hooked almost every shot, even when I consciously tried to hit a big fade. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but distance. I fought that darned hook the entire time, and after a while it was too late to recover. I finished tied for eighth. If I had it to do over, I would’ve just accepted my natural ball flight that day instead of wrestling with it. There are times when you’ll wake up with a certain ball flight, or you just don’t feel as strong or flexible as you normally do. Roll with it. That’s what separates great players from the rest of the field.
6. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
We all get a little angry at times after making a dumb bogey or double. How many times when that happens do we just get up on the next hole and rip it down the middle? A lot. The reason is, you’re so distracted by being mad that you don’t strategize too much or get balled up with swing mechanics. Try to hit every tee shot that way. Use emotion more than thought. It’s amazing how your body will respond to plain old desire.
7. If You’re Small, Hit More Balls
There are ways for smaller or older golfers to condition themselves to get more power, even if they don’t spend time in the gym. For many, the best training ground is the practice range, the old rock pile. So wear it out. Ben Hogan once said that beating hundreds of balls made him incredibly strong and improved his swing along the way. Get “golf strong” by hitting a lot of balls. Your hands and arms will become more wiry and your body more toned.
8. Flare Out Your Front Foot
I’ve played a lot of practice rounds with Tiger (who I tease for being a short hitter, by the way). When Tiger wants to really pound a drive, he fans his left foot out at about a 45-degree angle. That almost forces him to clear his hips and lower body faster through the swing, his belly button facing left of the target at the finish. It allows him to generate tremendous power. I’ve copied that move from Tiger, and it works. Just be careful not to flare the foot out too far, or you’ll limit your backswing turn. Get it right, and you’ll hear the difference — you’ll make a louder swish when you swing the club through impact.
9. Beware: Rust Forms Fast
If I go three days without playing, I know I’m not going to show up with my usual 126 miles per hour of clubhead speed. Rust kills distance, and it doesn’t take long to form. Going a week without playing is the story of the amateur golfer’s life, so learn to live with it, and lower your expectations a little. You can fend off the rust by making 30 or 40 full-speed practice swings on days you can’t make it to the course.
10. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
I’ve heard guys talk about making a big shoulder turn on the backswing but a modest hip turn. I say that’s bogus. The farther I turn my hips, the farther I can turn my shoulders, and the farther I can hit the ball. Don’t restrict your backswing in any way. Turn everything, so you have as much windup as you possibly can. Extra motion means a longer swing, more clubhead speed and big distance.
